When Chicagoans elected Rahm Emanuel as mayor, they kissed the proverbial toad and got Prince Triangulation. Clintonism has surfaced in the Second City

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“All my liberal friends think Rahm is an ideological liberal, and will govern accordingly,” observed John Kane, host of a Portage Park-based Internet radio political talk show. “I think he’s an opportunist.”

Kane is correct. Emanuel, like his aging mentor, Bill Clinton, does not view issues or problems in the context of right or wrong, liberal or conservative. His goal is not to please his political base. Rather, every crisis or controversy is an opportunity, and is viewed in the context of being beneficial or detrimental to Emanuel’s career advancement. It’s all about positioning, so as to avoid aligning with political extremes on issues, and embracing a “third way” – thereby minimizing political damage.

That third way, as refined by Clinton and Britain’s Tony Blair, is called “triangulation,” and is predicated on polarization and demonization.

Well, let’s see how well triangulation works in a city with plenty of real demons.